- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
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- 116
I was recently given a very young baby ball python that a friend of mine found (I'll explain that story later on) and I was wondering what I should do now. This is my first snake by the way.
First off, my friend gave him to me on the 10th of October. As he gave it to me, I quickly went with him to my local reptile shop and bought the things he needed (substrate and an under tank heater. I already had the tank, bowl, and hides) as I took it over there, I was hoping the person there would be able to sex it and see if its healthy. She was not able to sex it (She said she needed a probe but she didn't have one at the shop) but she did say it looked healthy.
Before I took it to the shop, I checked the snake if it had any mites, if he was strong enough to be able to climb up my hand while hanging by his tail, and I checked if he had mouth rot. No mites, seems to plenty strong, and no mouth rot. Surprisingly the snake is also pretty tame and not head shy at all once its out of the cage. In the cage he's pretty shy and will slowly hide his head.
Now, back to the shop. I told the lady at the shop if she could try to feed it for me. She tried giving it an almost unconscious hopper mouse but it refused to strike. I went home and set up his tank in my room. By Thursday I went out of town and came back Monday (The lady told me the snake can easily go for a few weeks without eating, so I was confident nothing should happen). Now that I came back on Monday, I went out again to the shop and bought the smallest hopper they had (I didn't bring the snake to the shop that time) and tried feeding it. Once I took it home, I realize the mouse looks a tad too big, but I didn't think it would be that much of a problem because it wasn't that much bigger than his girth. Almost forgot to mention it pooped when I came back.
He didn't want to strike it, I then killed the mouse and tried feeding it to the snake dead. Still didn't want to strike. After that, I left it right next to him because I had to run some errands. About 2 hours later, I come back and it hasn't eaten it. So I tried doing a quick assisted feeding, I got the mouse by its neck, rubbed the nose of the mouse on the front of the snake's snout until he opened his mouth. Once he opened his mouth, I inserted the mouse's head in his throat far enough to the point he couldn't spit it out. He eventually swallowed it. (Mind you I did this because I felt the snake looked pretty skinny, as his spine was showing a little, and some parts of his body had loose skin)
So now the next day, today, he was still digesting it and appeared to still be the same exact size in his stomach. I went out to go to my grandpa's house and by the time I come back, I noticed my room smelled horrible. I looked in his cage and he regurgitated the mouse. It didn't even look digested at all, just wet.
Now I'm wondering what should I do? Should I attempt to feed him the next day, next couple of days, or next week or so? He seems to be pretty weak right now, as I removed the log and put him in a single entrance cave with half his body sticking out, he hasn't moved for about an hour now.
His tank is a 10 gallon glass tank, he has 2 hides, mulch (I don't know what kind, definitely not cypress though) substrate with some sphagnum moss pieces, and a large water bowl half filled with water. His ambient temps are about 76. His hot spot is about 94-96.
I'm not entirely sure what's his weight (I haven't thought about weighing him but I will soon after it recovers from the regurgitation), its not very big, maybe around a foot long or so, I have not measured it. The lady told me its most likely only a few days old.
So when should I feed it and what should I feed it? Is it healthy? Too skinny?
Now then, if you'd like to know how I got the snake, I'll tell you now; My friend's dad went to his neighbor's house to borrow a tool. As he's back there with him trying to find it, he hears the neighbor's daughter scream and quickly went to check out what it was. My friend's dad saw that what she was screaming at was the small python as her dad was ready to kill it (Her dad had no idea what kind of snake it was and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have cared). My friend's dad caught it (He knew it wasn't a normal, wild snake) and my friend told me about it that same night. I picked it up the next morning.
The picture's below are of the snake's enclosure (Front and top view, as of now) and of the snake when I first received it, being fed, fed, and now after regurgitation.
I posted here as I wait for a ball python forum to give me permission to post.
Update: He's starting to move around now, just saw him drinking some water and went right back in his hide.
First off, my friend gave him to me on the 10th of October. As he gave it to me, I quickly went with him to my local reptile shop and bought the things he needed (substrate and an under tank heater. I already had the tank, bowl, and hides) as I took it over there, I was hoping the person there would be able to sex it and see if its healthy. She was not able to sex it (She said she needed a probe but she didn't have one at the shop) but she did say it looked healthy.
Before I took it to the shop, I checked the snake if it had any mites, if he was strong enough to be able to climb up my hand while hanging by his tail, and I checked if he had mouth rot. No mites, seems to plenty strong, and no mouth rot. Surprisingly the snake is also pretty tame and not head shy at all once its out of the cage. In the cage he's pretty shy and will slowly hide his head.
Now, back to the shop. I told the lady at the shop if she could try to feed it for me. She tried giving it an almost unconscious hopper mouse but it refused to strike. I went home and set up his tank in my room. By Thursday I went out of town and came back Monday (The lady told me the snake can easily go for a few weeks without eating, so I was confident nothing should happen). Now that I came back on Monday, I went out again to the shop and bought the smallest hopper they had (I didn't bring the snake to the shop that time) and tried feeding it. Once I took it home, I realize the mouse looks a tad too big, but I didn't think it would be that much of a problem because it wasn't that much bigger than his girth. Almost forgot to mention it pooped when I came back.
He didn't want to strike it, I then killed the mouse and tried feeding it to the snake dead. Still didn't want to strike. After that, I left it right next to him because I had to run some errands. About 2 hours later, I come back and it hasn't eaten it. So I tried doing a quick assisted feeding, I got the mouse by its neck, rubbed the nose of the mouse on the front of the snake's snout until he opened his mouth. Once he opened his mouth, I inserted the mouse's head in his throat far enough to the point he couldn't spit it out. He eventually swallowed it. (Mind you I did this because I felt the snake looked pretty skinny, as his spine was showing a little, and some parts of his body had loose skin)
So now the next day, today, he was still digesting it and appeared to still be the same exact size in his stomach. I went out to go to my grandpa's house and by the time I come back, I noticed my room smelled horrible. I looked in his cage and he regurgitated the mouse. It didn't even look digested at all, just wet.
Now I'm wondering what should I do? Should I attempt to feed him the next day, next couple of days, or next week or so? He seems to be pretty weak right now, as I removed the log and put him in a single entrance cave with half his body sticking out, he hasn't moved for about an hour now.
His tank is a 10 gallon glass tank, he has 2 hides, mulch (I don't know what kind, definitely not cypress though) substrate with some sphagnum moss pieces, and a large water bowl half filled with water. His ambient temps are about 76. His hot spot is about 94-96.
I'm not entirely sure what's his weight (I haven't thought about weighing him but I will soon after it recovers from the regurgitation), its not very big, maybe around a foot long or so, I have not measured it. The lady told me its most likely only a few days old.
So when should I feed it and what should I feed it? Is it healthy? Too skinny?
Now then, if you'd like to know how I got the snake, I'll tell you now; My friend's dad went to his neighbor's house to borrow a tool. As he's back there with him trying to find it, he hears the neighbor's daughter scream and quickly went to check out what it was. My friend's dad saw that what she was screaming at was the small python as her dad was ready to kill it (Her dad had no idea what kind of snake it was and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have cared). My friend's dad caught it (He knew it wasn't a normal, wild snake) and my friend told me about it that same night. I picked it up the next morning.
The picture's below are of the snake's enclosure (Front and top view, as of now) and of the snake when I first received it, being fed, fed, and now after regurgitation.
I posted here as I wait for a ball python forum to give me permission to post.
Update: He's starting to move around now, just saw him drinking some water and went right back in his hide.
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